JOE Cullen breezed into the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts last night, as he demolished a below-par Dirk van Duijvenbode 10-4 in the last-16.
The Bradfordian dominated in Wolverhampton yesterday, and with his Dutch opponent all over the place with his finishing, it was by far the most one-sided of the four games on the night.
The previous three matches had all finished 10-8, with Raymond van Barneveld, Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith all booking their places in the last-eight.
Cullen and van Duijvenbode were the last pair to take to the stage in the Black Country, and the former raced into an early 4-1 lead.
A superb 129 checkout from the Wyke thrower was his third break of throw of the contest, and saw him go 7-2 in front, with the match all over bar the shouting.
The pair traded the next four legs, but when the Dutchman missed two darts at double four to take out 68, Cullen punished him by taking out double seven to secure the victory.
The pair's averages were close enough, with Cullen's 95.46 to van Duijvenbode's 93.47, but the former was on 47.6 per cent for his doubles, the latter on just 23.5 per cent.
The Bradford man will not be expecting an easy ride in his quarter-final though, as he faces a rematch against the in-form Smith tomorrow evening.
Smith, who beat fifth seed Rob Cross last night, played Cullen in the group stage on Sunday, and beat him 5-1.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here